White Noise
by Rinne
Summary: That was Gibbs. A hard edge to the word, nobody else could inflect so much meaning in his name. Not related to Twilight at all. Part 3 added.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS or any of the characters, although I'd gladly take Tony. Story idea is mine.

**Rating: **T

**Spoilers:** Meat Puzzle I guess.

**A/N:** Set before the end of season 2. Thanks to Kat31 for betaing.

"Tony."

There was an upward lilt at the end of the word. Not Gibbs then. Gibbs barked the word, if he ever used his first name at all. Not Kate either, there was usually sarcasm or bemused tolerance behind the word. It wasn't throaty, so not Abby, and there was no other words with it, which meant it couldn't be Ducky.

That left McGee.

"Tony."

The lilt had increased, almost making it a question. Almost, but not quite. His mother used to say his name like that, when she'd find him sleeping on the couch instead of in his bed. There was never any anger there.

"Tony."

McGee still, but no question anymore. Fear and panic. His mother's voice from upstairs. He'd never heard her sound like that before, and had never heard her again.

"DiNozzo."

That was Gibbs. A hard edge to the word, nobody else could inflect so much meaning in his name. He could feel the stinging pain in his head from the usually associated head smack. Funny, he thought the voices sounded too far away for Gibbs to have smacked him. But, he did move quietly, liked sneaking up on people, particularly Tony, so maybe he was wrong.

"Tony."

That was a surprise. Gibbs again. And graduating to his first name, that couldn't be good. The word sounded closer this time, but still not enough for Gibbs to have whacked him before. His head started throbbing in reaction, or maybe resonance, to his thought. It hurt more than Gibbs hitting him for ten years continuously.

He suddenly wondered why he wasn't receiving any input from his environment. A strange choice of words, but he had thought it. Bigger words than Kate would probably give him credit for.

The only things he'd heard had been his name. Surely there should be other noises? Wait...no, there was something else, a white noise. Okay, so something odd was going on.

What about sight? His eyes were closed. Why weren't they open? Okay, it was a bad idea to try and open them, the pain in his head was now Gibbs jumping up and down on it constantly for fifteen years. Make that twenty.

"Tony."

Still Gibbs. He sounded odd. There was more white noise. It suddenly clicked in his throbbing head. The white noise must be people speaking. It didn't make sense that his name was the only word being bandied around. Don't wear it out.

Pain suddenly screamed through the rest of his body.

"Tony."

More white noise. Would be nice to know what else Gibbs was saying. Could be missing Gibbs complimenting him.

"Tony."

It wasn't any of the usual suspects. Didn't help with resolving any of the white noise though. The pain increased again and there was a bright light in his eyes. It hurt.

"Tony."

Gibbs again, almost comforting. He'd never heard him sound like that before.

The white noise increased and overwhelmed everything in his head.

* * *

There was beeping, regular. Breathing. His own? His body was pleasantly relaxed, felt a bit like he could melt through the floor.

His eyelids were heavy, sandy and stuck together. His first attempt to separate them wasn't successful. He tried again and a blurry roof was revealed to him. He opened and shut his eyes a few times, relieved when everything came into focus.

"Tony."

The words were soft, distinctly feminine. Kate.

He flicked his eyes down and to the right. Yep, it was Kate. She looked tired. She smiled at him, more warmly then she ever had.

"Hey." His voice was rough, barely intelligible, but there. He licked his lips; his mouth was dry. "What happened?"

"We were chasing Lieutenant Parker. You jumped a fence, there was a twelve foot drop."

"That was stupid." His voice wasn't improving.

"Not your best moment." She smiled again. "You've got a cracked skull, you broke your left arm and leg and you've got so many bruises that they lost count. Luckily you've got a thick skull, or it might have been worse."

He flicked his eyes to the left. His arm and leg were elevated and in casts. Funny, he hadn't noticed that.

"McGee thought you were dead to begin with."

"_Tony." Panic and fear._

"He called my name."

"Yes. The paramedics were pretty worried, you were conscious but unresponsive."

"_Tony." An unfamiliar voice. Light and pain._

"I heard people calling my name. Everything else was just noise."

"_Tony."_

"Mom called my name."

There was an uncomfortable silence from Kate.

"Tony…"

His eyelids were heavy and the rest of her words were lost to noise.

* * *

He surfaced from the fuzziness and opened his eyes. He scanned the room; he was alone. No, wait, Gibbs was over by the window, drinking his ever-present cup of coffee.

"Boss."

Gibbs almost spilt the coffee. Tony smiled slightly, about time he got Gibbs back.

"DiNozzo. How you feeling?" Gibbs' sharp eyes focused on him steadily.

"Like you ran over me."

His comment earned a slight upturn of the edges of Gibbs' mouth.

"The Doctors' want to keep you in here for another week or two, then you'll have to go through physical therapy."

Tony grimaced. "What about Lieutenant Parker?"

"We got him, two days ago. He knew about the drop over that fence, which was why he wasn't injured."

"I screwed up. I should have checked."

"Yes, you should have. You won't do that again."

He had a sudden fear that Gibbs' words meant he was off the team.

"You'll look next time." There was a glint of amusement in Gibbs' eyes. The bastard had done that on purpose.

"I'll be back in no time, Boss." His mind was spiraling down into sleep again.

"I'm counting on it, DiNozzo."


	2. Chapter 2

He needed to exercise more. The chase was taking it out of him. His breathing was so loud that it filled everything, all other noise gone, save for the frantic beat of his heart.

He saw Tony climb the fence and disappear. The Lieutenant reappeared, and headed off in a direction parallel to the fence.

Where was Tony?

"Tony?"

He ran faster, called out the name again. He reached the fence and clambered up. His head swam, white noise threatening to overwhelm him. He grabbed hold of the fence, making sure his grip was firm, before looking down again.

The world spiraled into a point, white surrounded by black.

"Tony!"

&&&

"DiNozzo!"

There was a roar in his ears, his shouted word the only thing above it. His heart thudded loudly, the pressure blocking everything else out. White noise filled his head.

White to match McGee's face.

White to match the clouds overhead.

White to match the bone poking out of the pants leg.

White to match the car parked in the alleyway.

White to match Tony's face.

"Tony!"

&&&

The sounds assured her that her world hadn't collapsed. Steadying. They helped to keep all the noise clambering for attention in her mind at bay. As long as the sounds kept on going, everything would be all right.

There was a pause. Her heart rate climbed, louder than the beeping. The rasping resumed, and the noise in her head dimmed.

His eyes flickered open and shut. It was repeated.

"Tony."

&&&

White. So much white everywhere. White seemed to be the theme of the day. He glanced at Tony.

It was so quiet. Everything was muted, dulled. Tony would make a joke if he was awake, to fill the silence. He couldn't seem to leave a good silence alone. He'd gotten so used to ignoring him, just more white noise in the day.

But now, the silence was unnatural. It deserved to be broken. He looked out the window – more white – and took a sip of his coffee.

"Boss."

His white noise machine was back.

"DiNozzo. How you feeling?"

_I think it's finished now…thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter and to AndyCake for asking for more._


	3. Chapter 3

The steady thrum of the engine stopped as he heard the key turn off. He opened his door and stepped out onto the road, hearing the corresponding 'snick' that informed him that Gibbs had done the same.

He could hear traffic noises, a low constant roar, random in its deviations from the norm. Probably would fit the textbook definition of noise: random, stochastic. Depending, of course, on what textbook you asked. He had learned some things after hanging around Abby and Ducky for so long.

There was a wind. It rattled a flattened can on the sidewalk. Footsteps, his own and Gibbs', echoed off the buildings.

_Their footsteps echoed loudly as he chased Lieutenant Parker. _

They'd reached the fence, neither speaking. He could hear a T.V. playing some game show, clapping and cheering. The fence was covered with graffiti.

_Parker climbed the fence. His mind stopped for a fleeting second to appreciate the way that the human form fitted in with the artwork that was the fence, before he too was helping to create living art._

He looked down the alleyway that ran parallel to the fence. The buildings loomed over it, creating a shadowy tunnel. He heard the flapping of wings, thought he caught a glimpse of a cloaked figure.

He stepped up to the fence, feeling his heart rate increasing, hoping that Gibbs wouldn't hear it. He had to pass this test; Gibbs had to know that he was trustworthy.

He grabbed hold of the fence, pulled himself up and looked down.

_He realised his error too late; saw Parker clinging like a limpet to the other side of the fence. He reached out with his right hand, trying to stop his fall. His fingers briefly grasped the fence before the weight of his dropping body wrenched them away._

The world shifted underneath him for a moment, before settling again. He took several deep breaths, calming his heart rate. He noticed that there was another figure on the fence beside him, Gibbs. He was peering down, his face blank. Dealing with his own demons, he supposed, if he had any.

He looked back down. It was a fairly large drop, definitely explained why it had hurt so much. He sniggered, and ignored the fact that Gibbs had turned to look at him. Gibbs nodded, before stepping down from the fence. He followed, stopping once again to look at the graffiti.

It wasn't your run of the mill tagging, it was more akin to art. Admittedly, modern art that you would probably find in some low-level government building. There was a metal plaque a few feet away, at eye level. He went over to it and burst out laughing after reading it. He heard Gibbs returning, and turned to catch his reaction. Gibbs smiled and laughed silently, before heading back to the car.

He looked again at the plaque, shaking his head with bemusement. He walked to the car, trying to figure out exactly who was responsible for it. It was probably Abby, it fitted in with her sense of humour. The soft roar of the car's engine started up as he opened the door. He glanced at Gibbs as he got in, there was still a faint hint of a smile around his eyes, but there was something else there too. Something that reassured him that he was not the only one who had dealt with their demons. He was filled with the realisation that he mattered. Not what he did, but him. The feeling lasted a fleeting moment, a brief interlude from the monotony of the noise that was his life.

"Back to work, DiNozzo. Don't let your fame go to your head." Gibbs smirked as the car moved off.

"No, Boss." He'd have to come back with a camera, Dianne would get a kick out of it.

"_DiNozzo's Leap_, indeed," Gibbs muttered. "More like _DiNozzo's Folly_."

"Love you too, Boss."

Gibbs hit him on the back of the head.

_A/N: Yes, I know I said that this was finished before, but it really is this time. And who is Dianne? Maybe I'll explain in the future, but then again, maybe not. Thanks to all that have reviewed, and hopefully in the not too distant future I'll have some more stories for you to read! Thanks again to Kat31 for betaing. Love you, sis._


End file.
